Mother's fight to banish acorns from schoolyard goes too far: critics

One parent’s bid to remove four oak trees from a park straddling her acorn-allergic daughter’s elementary schoolyard has generated fresh debate over what lengths authorities should go to eliminate childhood risks, and when the line between reasonable accommodation and overreaction is crossed.

Donna Giustizia told Vaughan, Ont., city council that the saplings dropping tree nuts onto school property pose a threat to young students with anaphylaxis-inducing allergies and are infringing on their right to a nut-free space.

But the request is being met with broad skepticism, as city councillors are forced to mull the tricky business of altogether removing something that might be a risk for a small segment of the population.

“This is ridiculous on too many levels to even engage,” said Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School and critic of nut policies in schools.

“My feelings are that we cannot childproof the whole world, we have to world-proof our children,” added Lenore Skenazy, the New York-based author of Free Range Parenting. “If it is dangerous for some kids to encounter an acorn, those kids have to be taught not to touch them, because there are trees all over, not just near the school. The best way to keep them safe is to train them to take care of themselves, not to cut down all the trees they may ever walk under anywhere.”

University of Waterloo researcher Nancy Fenton, who is currently studying how young people with anaphylaxis navigate a social sphere that is not always so understanding and accommodating to their allergies, says it’s a “fraught conversation” when you start taking away potential risks.

Vaughan city councillor Sandra Yeung Racco worries that the removal of the trees would set a dangerous precedent in her community.

“For as many people that may be allergic to acorns, I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are allergic to bees. What are we going to do about that? Are we going to exterminate all the bees?” she said. “We can’t. I am trying to be sensitive, but at the same time we have a responsibility to make common sense a priority. And I don’t believe this is something that should really be under our jurisdiction.”

But to Ms. Giustizia, who serves as the chair of the allergy committee at St. Stephen Catholic Elementary School, where her youngest daughter (who has an anaphylactic peanut and tree nut allergy) still attends Grade 8, it’s a matter of respecting accommodations for children with invisible disabilities assured under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

“The problem is that people don’t understand a) that it’s a hidden disability and b) that in Ontario and in Canada there’s an ultimate duty to accommodate,” she said in an interview with the Post on Tuesday. “People don’t understand that — they think it’s one crazy parent bubblewrapping their kid.”

I am trying to be sensitive, but at the same time we have a responsibility to make common sense a priority

Last month, she said, the vice-principal of St. Stephen called her to say four saplings in a city-owned walkway connecting the Catholic school with a public elementary school were littering acorns onto school property and that custodians had been picking them up. Ms. Giustizia said the vice-principal asked if she would call the city to see about them being removed (the York Catholic District School Board said Ms. Giustizia called the city on her own accord). Ms. Giustizia was thanked via email by the vice-principal for her work in lobbying the city. In the meantime, the school — which Ms. Giustizia says has at least 40 anaphylactic students out of around 860 — had been making announcements over the PA system, telling students not pick up the nuts and bring them into the school.

The trees are closest to a playground where the primary students play, Ms. Giustizia said, and while the outside of the acorns themselves don’t pose a risk, the meat of the nut, if crushed and ingested, could trigger anaphylaxis.

“The problem being, a 4-year-old can’t decipher that,” she said. ‘‘The school is nut free. I provided letters to the city from children who have anaphylaxis at our school where their doctors have specifically stated ‘because of the uncertainty of tree nuts and the evolution of anaphylaxis, this child is to stay away from all nuts of any kind.’”

Ms. Giustizia’s city councillor, Tony Carella, said he’s sympathetic to her concerns and is keenly aware that there is a greater chance of a lawsuit now that the concern has been raised, should the acorns actually trigger an allergic reaction in a student. Council has ordered a report on whether to remove the trees —it’s expected by the end of the year.